Fake job scams are on the rise. Here’s what to look out for

Jobs platforms are being inundated with fake job ads generated by artificial intelligence, costing jobseekers time and money.

LinkedIn, SEEK and Indeed are battling against a growing tide of scam ads being posted on their websites, prompting warnings about fraudulent ads being listed for positions that offer a lucrative salary for little or no experience.

Despite growing awareness, scammers continue to succeed because their offers often appear legitimate, using stolen logos, professional language and carrying promises of fast money.

Indeed workplace expert Lauren Anderson urges jobseekers to report suspicious ads so jobs platforms can act quickly to remove scams.

She warns people to be cautious with job offers that ask for upfront payments for equipment training or onboarding, as well as those that promise high pay for little effort or experience, request personal or financial details early in the process, or pressure candidates to act quickly or move conversations off platform.

If a job ad sounds too good to be true, it usually is, Anderson says.

“Job scams aren’t always easy to detect and are becoming more sophisticated. They’re designed to look more professional, urgent and convincing and can trick even the most discerning of jobseekers,” Anderson says.

The job postings can often be altered to make them more attractive, changing minimum requirements to make it more accessible to a larger number of potential applicants.

Work locations for the job can also be changed to make it local, or a work from home role, boosting the pay on offer to make it more appealing. Other red flags include recruiters being evasive when asked about the job or offering the job without an interview process.

The job ads are convincing, with three in five workers who have come across a fake job ad falling victim to the scam, according to Indeed.

Nearly half reported losing time by engaging in lengthy back and forth conversations, while 22 per cent had personal information stolen, including identification and banking details.

One in 10 reported losing money, mostly through upfront fees and fake training costs. Identities have also been stolen by criminals, which has been used to commit other frauds. Australians lost around $18.5 million to job and employment scams in 2025, with nearly 5500 scams formally reported to Scamwatch. 

Younger Australians are particularly at risk. Gen Z and Millennials are far more likely than other generations to fall victim to fake job ads. Men are twice as likely to lost money to a job scam (16 per cent versus 7 per cent).

Jobseekers should also be on the lookout for job aggregators, which crawl the web and scrape sites for jobs to post to LinkedIn if it determines that they aren’t already posted there. Usually, this means these jobs are long expired.

These aggregators ask jobseekers to sign up on their platforms and hand over personal information to access the job posting. They also upsell premium job boards or resume services once they have jobseekers’ personal information.

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